Last night I had a wonderful phone conversation with my dear friend Jaime. If only the stars would align and we could live within an hour of each other again.That conversation plus the one I had afterward with my husband kept me up way later than I had expected. I am not complaining though, as we were heading to bed, two really funny things happened. Well, maybe funny in a way a parent could laugh at.

First, Caecilia had woken up and made her way to the living room (as has been her practice this week). We normally let her sit with us for a few minutes then send her back to bed. Last night, since I was on the phone and Joshua was doing work, he just set her on the couch with a book and a blanket. She fell back to sleep for a bit then woke up to play. She was having a grand ol’ time with us but we needed some sleep, so off to bed she was to go. First Joshua checked her diaper. Boy am I glad he did. That diaper was the ickiest diaper I have seen in a while. I told him, because he changed that one, I would get all of Benedict’s diapers for a week. Benedict’s diapers aren’t bad, per se, he just tends to pee whenever the diaper if off, requiring a new cover, another clean diaper, sometimes a change of clothes and some times a good scrub down of the couch. I am learning though, I now normally change him only on the changing table. Unless of course….

…one of the charming Facekids locks my bedroom door and I can’t get to it. Thankfully, Benedict did not have any issues with being changed on the couch that time.

While Joshua was taking care of Caecilia’s really icky diaper, Karol strolled out to the living room. He walked right by me, did not respond to my hello, proceeded to the toy area, looked around for a second, walked back by me, not acknowledging me again then headed back to bed. I figured he was sleep walking (like his mumma does), laughed and went back to staring at Benedict while he nursed. Then I heard Joshua yelling talking sternly to Karol to get to the bathroom. I thought maybe Karol was throwing up or something, so I detached Benedict and ran down the hall way. There I found Karol with his pajamas down going to the bathroom, in the hallway. He woke up in the middle of it all and started bawling his eyes out. I got him a change of clothes, told him he was okay, then put him back to bed, where he was back to sleep in no time.

That was our fun last night. We then got in to bed and Benedict started fussing. I wondered aloud where he could be putting all this food when Joshua asked if I thought Benedict could still be hungry. I told him no, but he seemed to be rooting around for food. Joshua took him, laid him next to his side, patted his butt and he fell right to sleep. He stayed asleep for close to five hours! He woke up around 430 or so and nursed with just me, no supplement and was content until around 730, nursed with just me again slept some more. I was able to get a shower in before Joshua left for work, the kids breakfast and myself breakfast before he needed a supplemented feeding. I feel nice and refreshed and like I actually got some sleep.

I actually got dinner in the crock pot and Joshua agreed to make fried rice when he got home. I actually made dessert for tonight also, for the Feast of the Archangels and rescued Benedict from the clutches of Caecilia. Let’s just say that all of our Guardian Angels were protecting us this morning as Caecilia managed to move Benedict from the boppy pillow, where I thought he was safe and he was about to fall, head first, from the couch. I walked in the room just in time to catch him and Caecilia thought she was being a great big sister.

Before I go, I wanted to let you all know that it has rained all day long here, over an inch of rain has fallen today alone. This is good as our air conditioner broke on Monday. Last night we slept with windows open and it was wonderful. Today, Karol asked if we could close some windows as he was cold. What a nice turn around. In the 10 day forecast, we have a day where the high is 72 and the low is 52, I look forward to that day.

Mrs Logue tagged me and as I am chained to the couch nursing, I will, to the best of my sleep deprived brain, ability answer her questions, tag some of my followers and ask them a few questions.

1. How did you decide on your kids’ names? All of our children are named after saints (or future saints in the case of Karol). We have a list of names we compiled while engaged and refer to the list when we are expecting. We don’t always use the names on the list, though, as in the case with the boys. Often times one of us will toss out a name and the other one will say “heck no!” or “hey, I was thinking that too”. (As in the case with Benedict).

2. What is the one piece clothing you have had the longest and you can’t bear to part with it? I have a lot of clothes I have had for a long time. I think there is a sweater I got from my Grandma Martin many years ago (she died in 1994) that I would never toss now. I have a skirt that I bought in 2002 or 2003 that I LOVE and do not plan on parting with anytime soon.

3. What is your favorite movie and why? Favorite movie? I honestly don’t think I have one. I have a few that I will sit and watch without complaint. If John Wayne is the main character, I will usually watch it. Now, if the creators of NCIS made a movie, I would be there, first in line!

4. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? While I like living where falling snow is a major media event and I am sure to wear shorts in December, I would actually live in the Nort’ Country, that is the Upper Lower Peninsula of Michigan.
Now on to you lovely ladies:

Kimberly

Suzanne

Anne

Maryanne

Patty

I want to know:

1. Where is your favorite vacation spot?

2. What is your favorite dessert?

3. Who is your favorite saint?

4. When do you do laundry?

5. How often do you go out for dinner in a month, if at all?

This one supersedes the house sale prayer request. Would you all say a prayer for our dear friend, Joe Hasser? The Hassers are a wonderful family from Indiana and Mr Hasser is a truly wonderful man. Please say a prayer for him as he suffered a stroke last night.

St. Andrew Avellino, Pray for us.

Below is the email received from Fr. Tim at St. Boniface:

Joe Hasser, husband of Linda, Father of Fr. David and Nick

suffered a stroke last evening while on a trip to Cleveland, Ohio.

Linda tells me he is stable at this time.

Please pray for Joe’s complete recovery and for strength for his family!

With your prayers!
We have a tentative agreement for a contract for our house. Please say a prayer that the buyer’s financing is finalized and that people decide that they do not want to back out at the last minute!

St. Joseph, pray for us!

Recently I added a few new blogs to my sidebar. The first one is a blog devoted to St. Therese of the Child Jesus. It is full of quote, pictures and information about The Little Flower. If you are in need of a quick pick me up during the day, during times of attack or you just need something to meditate on while praying, check out her quotes.

The second blog added is that of Fr. Allan McDonald, the Pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Macon, Georgia. Not only does Father McDonald use this blog to help us to grow in our faith, he also uses it to give us doses of laughter, as shown in the As the Rat Turns Soap Opera. Father McDonald is also the priest who administered the sacrament of Baptism for our wee little Benedict.

May I also make a suggestion? If you haven’t heard of Google Reader, I suggest you check it out. It allows you to follow all of your favorite blogs and check to see if they were updated by just logging on to the Reader site. I know for me, it has streamlined my blog reading and I have more time to do things like folding laundry.

I will tell you this post will have a bit of too much information regarding nursing and myself, but I wanted to share my story in hopes that it may help other women out there.

As some of you know, I have always had difficulty in nursing my wee little ones. With Karol, it was thought that there were latch issues and my midwife worked with me just about everyday for a week to help me with the latch. In addition to her, there were a few women from the local La Leche League who came over to check out the latch too. Everything checked out, but Karol was not gaining weight. For some reason, I just did not have the milk. I had much guilt at that time, thinking that because it took so long for me to figure out that darn latch thing, my milk just did not come in.

We supplemented with formula using a Supplemental Nursing System (SNS) to help him get any milk I did have and give him the nutrition that he needed. It wasn’t easy, but we used it for about five months, alternating with bottles.

When Margaret was born, we waited to see if my milk would come in and after four days, nothing, so we began supplementing. It was hard, but not as hard as it was with Karol. Margaret supplemented using the SNS for about ten weeks, then we took a job in Illinois and it was hard to supplement using the nurser, so she went on bottles.

I had resigned myself to the fact that I could not fully nurse my children. I accepted this as my cross and was joyful (for the most part) in that.  I figured that God had blessed me with these wee little souls and if I could not feed them as He had intended, He had a reason for it.

Caecilia came along, we followed the same route we did with Margaret, beginning the supplement at four days. With Caecilia though, I used the SNS exclusively for four months, until she started needing more food than the SNS held. I was very proud that Caecilia was nursed for that long, even if using the SNS. I used it in public and in front of friends,  sharing my struggles with those who asked.

My midwife with Benedict has helped me quite a bit in upping my supply. I am taking herbal supplements along with pumping and I have much more milk than ever before. We do have to supplement, but he is taking quite a bit less than the other kids did but is gaining weight!

I started looking a bit further in to the cause of my lack of lactation. Most websites on breastfeeding talk of all the reasons a woman might have low milk supply. The reasons for it may range from bad latch to hormonal imbalance to poly-cystic ovarian syndrome. I do not have any of those problems, so what could it be?  Few websites address reasons beyond those listed for low milk supply and I have never seen one that said there may be a physical problem with the mother, where her body just does not have the ability to produce milk, because she just does not have the parts.

Until now. After much research and clicking on many links, I found this. I was so thrilled, I almost cried.

Insufficient glandular development. Very rarely, a mother’s breasts will not be able to produce an adequate milk supply for her baby. Simply put, the milk ducts and glands have not developed well enough to properly work. Mothers with this condition typically report that their breasts did not change in size or shape during pregnancy. There may also be a marked difference in the size or shape of the breasts. There is no note of the “milk coming in” during the early days postpartum and the breasts never feel full or engorged. These mothers should still be encouraged to breastfeed. While their babies will need to be supplemented in order to receive enough milk, the amount of mother’s milk received will still be invaluable.

While not what I wanted to hear, it was a start. I spoke with a Lactation Consultant and she suggested this may be the problem. She also said that with each child, the milk ducts and glands will develop more, so there will be more milk with each child. This explains why I have more now than with any other child.

I do not like the idea that I will probably never be able to fully nurse my children, I am glad to know there is a reason.

I also wanted to share a few websites that have helped me out with regard to nursing and has answered many questions about feeding my wee little ones.

Kellymom

Lowmilksupply.org

South Georgia Birth Services

Another soul was baptized in Christ today. Benedict Thomas received he first Sacrament this afternoon at St. Joseph Catholic Church, Macon, Georgia. He smells heavenly! Pictures to follow, eventually.

Today I went for a walk with Benedict, just around the yard, partly to get me back in to the swing of things and to get him some Vitamin D as he is a bit yellow. This morning he had a weight check and is a bit low, but we can’t say for sure if he is on the upswing from bottoming out or if I still have supply issues, so we will begin again with the more frequent weight checks. The doctor and midwife are not too concerned at this point, as he wets plenty and poops plenty also. (No really, this kid is a pooping machine.)

When I got back from the appointment, we had a visitor, our Very Special Priest Friend! The kids about fell over themselves to tell me his was here and we had a great visit. He blessed both me and the baby as well as Joshua and also blessed the home as well as Enthroned our home to the Sacred Heart of Jesus! We had a great conversation and had a great lunch with him, a great visit over all. I love asking questions like “What do you do when the music at Mass is unbearable?” He said “Be thankful that the validity of the Mass does not depend on the music”.  Good answer, Father. I then asked is the Mass still valid if the priest uses contractions during the Eucharistic Prayer and it was confirmed, with a yes, provided he says, properly, “This is My Body” and “This is My Blood” . After this conversation, was over, Joshua commented on how he has never heard a decent Mission Priest. …. For those who don’t know, our Very Special Priest Friend is from an order that, well, preaches parish missions. 🙂

Benedict’s Baptism will be this coming weekend and we are looking forward to it! I am excited to have my sister, Mary, joining us. We will have it in Macon at a Catholic Parish there so we will spend the night on Saturday night and go to Mass on Sunday, then the Baptism.

Joshua returns to work tomorrow, boo. Okay, not really. I mean, Sam, his totally awesome boss, gave him this past week off and said to work half days for the rest of this week. Thanks, Sam! It will certainly help to get things in order here.

I think the kids have finished cleaning up toys, so we will be going for a family walk now!